DreamIt Ventures Announces Its First Batch Of NYC Startups

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In January of this year, DreamIt Ventures, a Philadelphia-based VC firm and startup accelerator, announced that it would be expanding to the Big Apple, creating a startup accelerator program based in New York City.

The program offers $25,000 in seed funding to its portfolio companies, along with coaching, exclusive speaking engagements, a chance to pitch at a Demo Day to affiliated angel and venture investors, and a collaborative workspace.

After reviewing hundreds of applications over the first quarter of this year, today DreamIt is officially announcing its final NYC roster. The program will include 15 startups that hail from all over the U.S. The selected companies include students and alumni from Harvard Business School, Wharton, Yale, and Carnegie Mellon, and its founders boast prior experience at companies including Yahoo!, Microsoft, American Express, and McKinsey. Like DreamIt’s Philly program, 5 of the 15 startups are digital education businesses and were selected in partnership with Startl — a social enterprise dedicated to accelerating digital innovations for learning.

All 15 companies will spend the summer working out of 6,000 square-foot of shared office space at 28 West 27th Street in downtown NYC. The program is set to run through mid-August, at which point DreamIt will host a Demo Day to showcase each company’s summer progress.

The advisors for the accelerator program’s summer class includes Gil Beyda, founder of RealMedia (acquired by WPP), Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg, founders of FutureNow and both New York Times bestselling authors, Jonathan Shapiro, the CEO of MediaWhiz and former Chief Strategy Officer at Doubleclick, Jonah Goodhart, co-founder of Colonize.com and board member of Right Media, and Michael Yavondite, current CEO of Hashable and former CEO of Quigo, which was acquired by AOL.

So, without further ado, here is a brief introduction to the 15 startups participating in DreamIt’s inaugural NYC program:

1DocWay, St Louis, MO: video-chat based doctor’s office with back-end automationAdmitly, New York, NY: Admission pipeline to US schoolsAfterSteps, Boston, MA: Online end-of-life planning platform. Store your wishes and important information securely in the cloud, and access expert advice on how and why to prepare for the worst-case scenario in advance. Experts include estate, financial and funeral planners.Class.io, Honduras: Online classroom communication, helps teachers share assignments with studentsClothes Horse, New York, NY: Data-driven platform that makes fashion fitCognection, New Haven, CT: Online retail optimizationCustomCoup, Philadlephia, PA: Demand-driven deals, focusing on local, aiming to give the user the power to determine prices on the things they wantHoot.me, Austin, TX: Interactive knowledge network; put Facebook into study mode by connecting you with friends for homework and projects.KeepRecipes, New York, NY: iTunes for all-star chef’s recipesLearnBop, Pittsburgh, PA: Online adaptive learning platformLetsGiftIt, New York, NY: Social gifting platform; a way for friends, family, and coworkers to contribute towards the purchase of a gift for someone specialListenVoice, Boston, MA: App creation and distribution platform, allowing individuals and organizations to launch any form of content using mobile and web applications without prior programming knowledgeNew Quill, Los Angeles, CA: Mobile publishing and collaborative learningSocialAdMX, New York, NY: Social and mobile app publishing and advertisingTakeTheInterview, Boston, MA: Cloud-based video interviewing platform for employers to more efficiently screen candidates

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Crunchbase

OverviewDreamit is an accelerator program for edtech and digital health startups with a product ready to deploy and some early traction. The 14 week cycle is 5 weeks on site and 9 weeks of remote participation tailored to each startup's schedule, including office hours and on-demand programming. The program kicks off with a 3 week, multi-city "Customer Immersion" roadshow designed to help jumpstart your sales …